How a teacher greets students, takes care of logistics, and begins his or her lessons is CRUCIAL! During this observation, focus onhow class begins. Where is your CT before class begins? What is he or she doing? Using the clock on the wall, determine when your CT establishes order and begins class. How did she/he start their lesson? How is homework from the previous night reviewed/collected/assessed? How does your CT engage students during the opening of the lesson? Is the approach your CT used during this lesson consistent with what you read in "Teach Like a Pirate."
Narragansett High School Mr. Zabel Biology II Ecology
NHS has block schedule which gives the students four classes a day. Luckily on B days Mr. Zabel has two prep periods and two classes. When I entered the room at 7:00, thirty minutes before school started, Mr Zabel was already at his desk making sure he had all the proper papers in order. Before class started many students popped in to make up quizzes or check the board to make sure they had their homework done. As the bell rang Mr Zabel stood up and addressed the class, but because the class was working on a prior project he just pointed them to the right resources and moved around the room as they worked in groups on their own. About five minutes after the bell rang he sat back at his desk and took attendance then continued around the room. His next class was prep so he sat me down and went over the projects his two classes were working on. He also opened his grade book and took note of students who were missing work for his next class. He gave me a key and had me grade his Biology I quizzes taken the day before so I could become familiar with the material they were working on. His next class was Biology II and were also working on prior project. As the students came in he told them to grab their plates from the incubator and start drawing since they had a lot to do today. Again, five minutes after the bell rang he tok attendance and talked to the students who were missing work. As the students were drawing he told them about their lab report due from the experiment that they had done. As they worked he put the lab report outline on the overhead so everyone could copy that down. Once everyone had finished their drawings eh assigned them new groups he handed out a new project and we went outside to take samples. We then came in and pressed the leaves right before the bell rang. Next was lunch and students trickled in and had lunch with him. Advisor was just as laid back where he talked to many of his students and had others from Bio II come in and finish their pressings
Because his Ecology class was working on a prior project I didn't get to see him engage his class with his lesson. This class was a lot of independent work where he helped as needed. He did however give very clear instructions in the project outline which was light hearted and made many jokes. I can only imagine how he introduced the lesson which I assume had even more jokes to get them engaged. I feel as thought he could have written 'Teach Like A Pirate.' In his Bio II class he was running behind so he briefly introduced the lesson so they could go get samples that they needed and said he would go more in detail next lesson on what he expected. He told them that they were going to do a group lab report and conduct their own experiment but didn't say how because of time. He explained to me how he was going to introduce this to them next class with plant classification. The way he described it seemed as though the experiment worked seamlessly into the chapter of the book they were working on. Next week when I observe he explained that I would be there for the beginning of lessons instead of the end.
Narragansett High School
Mr. Zabel
Biology II
Ecology
NHS has block schedule which gives the students four classes a day. Luckily on B days Mr. Zabel has two prep periods and two classes. When I entered the room at 7:00, thirty minutes before school started, Mr Zabel was already at his desk making sure he had all the proper papers in order. Before class started many students popped in to make up quizzes or check the board to make sure they had their homework done. As the bell rang Mr Zabel stood up and addressed the class, but because the class was working on a prior project he just pointed them to the right resources and moved around the room as they worked in groups on their own. About five minutes after the bell rang he sat back at his desk and took attendance then continued around the room.
His next class was prep so he sat me down and went over the projects his two classes were working on. He also opened his grade book and took note of students who were missing work for his next class. He gave me a key and had me grade his Biology I quizzes taken the day before so I could become familiar with the material they were working on. His next class was Biology II and were also working on prior project. As the students came in he told them to grab their plates from the incubator and start drawing since they had a lot to do today. Again, five minutes after the bell rang he tok attendance and talked to the students who were missing work. As the students were drawing he told them about their lab report due from the experiment that they had done. As they worked he put the lab report outline on the overhead so everyone could copy that down. Once everyone had finished their drawings eh assigned them new groups he handed out a new project and we went outside to take samples. We then came in and pressed the leaves right before the bell rang. Next was lunch and students trickled in and had lunch with him. Advisor was just as laid back where he talked to many of his students and had others from Bio II come in and finish their pressings
Because his Ecology class was working on a prior project I didn't get to see him engage his class with his lesson. This class was a lot of independent work where he helped as needed. He did however give very clear instructions in the project outline which was light hearted and made many jokes. I can only imagine how he introduced the lesson which I assume had even more jokes to get them engaged. I feel as thought he could have written 'Teach Like A Pirate.' In his Bio II class he was running behind so he briefly introduced the lesson so they could go get samples that they needed and said he would go more in detail next lesson on what he expected. He told them that they were going to do a group lab report and conduct their own experiment but didn't say how because of time. He explained to me how he was going to introduce this to them next class with plant classification. The way he described it seemed as though the experiment worked seamlessly into the chapter of the book they were working on. Next week when I observe he explained that I would be there for the beginning of lessons instead of the end.